Andreas Kriezis: 3 interesting facts

Andreas Kriezis (Greek: Ανδρέας Κριεζής; 1813/1816 Hydra, Ottoman Empire – c. 1880, Hydra, Greece) was a Greek painter in the same way as Arvanite origin; primarily of portraits and maritime subjects. His surname is translated from Albanian, it means “black head”.

He was the son of a Captain in the merchant marine, and grew up on the island of Hydra, which was one of the main strongholds for the Greek fleet during the War of Independence. Some sources allegation that he was actually the brother of Prime Minister Antonios Kriezis, but this seems enormously unlikely and the relationship, if any, remains unclear.

Rather than follow his family’s conventional maritime occupations, he went to Athens, where he worked as a lithographer at the Royal Printing House. In 1839, he went to Paris, to intensify his skills in his chosen field, but turned to painting instead.

On his compensation to Greece in 1851, he taught drawing at the gymnasium in Syros. While there, he discovered and became an unbiased for the young painter, Konstantinos Volanakis. Later, he became an itinerant artist, travelling throughout the Saronic Gulf while competing in several exhibitions from 1859 to 1875.

Although mostly a portrait painter, he is known to have painted murals at the “Church of Saint Irene” on Poros. As a rule, he did not sign his works, so by yourself a little number of canvases are qualified to him later certainty. His brushwork is very same to that of Francesco Pige, an Italian-born painter who was his friend. In fact, many of Pige’s to the fore works were originally ascribed to Kriezis. The authorship of many is yet uncertain.

His death is generally believed to have come in 1880, but definitely after 1877.

Many of his works are in private collections, but may after that be seen at the National Gallery of Greece, the Benaki Museum, and the Historical Museum of Hydra.

Media united to Andreas Kriezis at Wikimedia Commons